WHAT DID YOU SAY?

There are times when I surprise the living heck out of myself. Yesterday I had several conversations in Cantonese, and also a few in Mandarin. Did I ever mention that my Mandarin is lousy? Absolutely awful. Truly abysmally bad. Which did not seem to be an obstacle. Communication was achieved. Better than if I had attempted German. Guten tag, fraulein Huang, haben sie das Chrysanthemum thee geprobiert? Es iz ausgezeichnet, und hatt zero kalorien! Ja! Under the circumstances, Miss Huang would have probably thrown up her hands, said "damn it all", and retired without tea because a weird foreigner was blocking the icebox in the back of the store and gibbering. No chance of a cool calorie-free drinkie.
Um, not very many people in Chinatown actually recognize German.
Even fewer speak it.

I'm a Dutchman. Butchering German is what we do.
And sometimes other languages.
Multitalentless.


On the other hand, I also got to listen in on several conversations, because it was quite busy there. And the egg tarts had just come out of the oven,so I had timed my getting there just right. Despite the overcast and gloom it felt like a beautiful sunny day.

Earlier I had purchased some long beans (katjang pandjang 豆角 'tau gok') and persimmons (柿果 'chi gwo') for the Indonesian Chinese downstairs neighbor. The long beans because those are indeed something with which I would imagine she is familiar. And the persimmons because they were beautiful. I think these are fuyu (富有) persimmons. As yet quite unripe. Wait until they're gold and soft. But heavens they look elegant.


I would have also bought interesting Asian potato chips for my apartment mate, but the aisle was narrowed considerably by boxes of stuff that still needed to be shelved, and the other leg of the U had someone in it, so I couldn't crabwalk my way around from the other side. I am not particularly large, but I'm not a ballet dancer or stick insect either, and that emporium has several areas which make it dangerous if ever a fire breaks out there. One of the things that I like very much (鳳梨酥 'fung lei sou') are at the far end (bottom of the U) and I often check to see if the mango flavoured ones have come back in again. Delicious!

I've been shopping there for years. They've always been tight and narrow. But they have a vast array of condiments and a superior selection of noodles. Plus some Japanese chocolates and confections, and Camel non-filters, which are hard to find.

[More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette. Yes, in a repeated national survey, doctors in ALL branches of medicine, in ALL parts of the country, were asked "what cigarette do YOU smoke, doctor?" Not surprisingly, more doctors preferred the taste of Camels. Why don't you try Camels for a month, to see what a smooth, rich tasting cigarette can mean for your tobacco enjoyment?]

They do not have dried fish. So a certain faint whiff is missing. And I don't think they light actual incense to Kwan Kong, so that too is an absent element. In a sense they don't smell very much like a Chinese grocery store.

Tea and an egg tart around the corner afterwards.
And conversation.



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